A.M. Links: Healthcare Premiums to Skyrocket Under Obamacare, U.N. Targets U.S. Drones in Pakistan, Treasury Secretary Not Worried About Bubbles

• 

  ucumari/foter.com

  Healthcare premiums are expected to increase by up to 100 percent due to Obamacare.

• A United Nations researcher says U.S. drones in Pakistan regularly kill innocent people.
• Treasury Secretary Jack Lew's not worried about market bubbles.
• Maryland lawmakers are expected to abolish the death penalty.
• Press regulation talks have collapsed in the United Kingdom.
• Separatists in Pakistan are using children to deliver bomb packages.
• A Florida mother called 911 to get police to scare her children.
• Keith Olbermann is having trouble finding work.

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Comments

[VG Zaytsev]

Obama unable to eat food at congressional lunch meeting because his food taster was not present.

[sarcasmic]

What a jerk.

[db]

Yeah, I came to post this.

Obama can't eat without his taster?

I imagine this is the case for all presidents, but the mask slips a little more: we really do increasingly have a King, regardless of the man in the seat or the party to which he belongs.

[Quetzalcoatl]

So they were waiting for this fellow?

[Counterfly]

No, it's not for poison, he has to taste it to make sure there's no hidden sat fats.

[LTC(ret) John]

Or too much sodium!

/Bloomberg

[Quetzalcoatl]

Aaaaah, so his taster is Michele!

[VG Zaytsev]

Dear reader is Ronery .

[Ted S.]

Poor Fistie.

[Fist of Etiquette]

I'm not his taster. I wouldn't be any good at it anyway, as I've built up a tolerance to all known poisons (and a few unknown I invented myself).

[LTC(ret) John]

Iocaine powder?

[Ted S.]

Actually, I was thinking of you because somebody else beat you to posting in this comment thread.

[Fist of Etiquette]

A prepared, non-topic comment? You have an odd definition of beat.

[Ted S.]

You're just pissed that somebody commented before you, aren't you?

[Night Elf Mohawk]

He's not Handshake of Etiquette.

[Rich]

Let's do the Taster!

[Jerry on the boat]

He also wasn't able to speech, as his teleprompter was in the shop for a software update.

[Eduard van Haalen]

The disturbing part is that because of the sequester, they had to combine the positions of Presidential Taster and Presidential Piss-Bucket carrier.

[db]

Very nice.

[ant1sthenes]

The guy can illegally invade countries and have people whacked with flying robots, but he can't fucking eat some shit if he feels like it? Is he just a puppet for some Richelieu or Cheney?

[21044]

Is he just Jarrett's a puppet for some Richelieu or Cheney?

[Fist of Etiquette]

Press regulation talks have collapsed in the United Kingdom.

Government regulation journalists were not on board with?

[Counterfly]

They wanted to make the Page 3 girls in black and white only. Did Braveheart die FOR NOTHING?!

[Bee Tagger]

Nicely done, Loder. You're tired of being link-blocked by AM links.

[Counterfly]

This way his and Suderman's reviews of the same movies on the same day can be even closer together.

[AuH2O]

Well if they went and saw a different movie it wouldn't be a romantic date night for them. Just don't tell Megan

[Way Of The Crane]

I know THIS is coming from the Muslim Brotherhood, but maybe they're on to something...

[Counterfly]

First you let them walk around unescorted, next thing you know: Feinstein.

[Way Of The Crane]

It's a slippery slope for sure.

[VG Zaytsev]

Just look at what women politicians have done to the US. Pelosi, Feinstein and Hillary have done more damage to their country than 1,000 jihadists ever could.

[WTF]

Hey, even a stopped clock is right twice a day, etc.

[Andrew S.]

What you Rethuglicans don't realize is that without Obamacare, your premiums would be going up by over 9000%. You should be thankful.

[Counterfly]

Is being a super saiyan count as a pre-existing condition?

[Way Of The Crane]

Subsidized Coccyx Removal Surgery for all!

[bostonaod]

it's not a tail, it's an extra vertebrae!

*sobs*

[itsnotmeitsyou]

My blond hair is already standing on end.

[Quetzalcoatl]

Troll-Free Friday, errybody.

[Andrew S.]

I forgot. 🙁

For my penance, I will go read the comments to a story on HuffPo. I hope I come out of that experience alive, and sane.

[NoVAHockey]

sane or alive. you must choose.

[Rich]

Penancetax.

[Ted S.]

I figured the original comment was sarcasm/parody.

[Quetzalcoatl]

I guess I got Poe's Law'd.

[Cowboy]

I prefer stir-friday.

[VG Zaytsev]

What you Rethuglicans don't realize...

You missed the memo, the current term is teathuglicans.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Keith Olbermann is having trouble finding work.

I don't know why but leftist talking hairdos don't seem to enjoy the same job security as rightwing shouters.

[invisible furry hand]

he should stop being so damn picky. I got a bathroom that needs cleaning, a basket of ironing, and a few spare bucks for the right silver-haired domesticated douchebag.

[DJF]

Yeah, but it would cost you extra to get him to shut up.

[Counterfly]

Craig Kilborn, on the other hand, was just made assistant night manager of Suds-time Car Wash on 47th and MLK.

[KDN]

It doesn't help that Olbermann has burned every bridge he ever crossed in that industry. Everybody knows who and what he is at this point and nobody wants to deal with it.

[DontShootMe]

Heck, he's burned every bridge he's ever laid eyes on, or even heard about.

[JW]

What's more amazing is that he was fired by leftist talking hairdos.

When your own kin want nothing to do with you...

[AlmightyJB]

5 years from now someone will post a video of him staning on his lawn with an open robe, his boxers, and a wife beater sporting a 3 day beard shaking his fist ranting about BOOOOOSH! Hilarity will ensue.

[invisible furry hand]

The Australian Government's attempt to trash press freedom looks like it might fail, mostly because they're cack-handed politicians

[T]

Umm, can you translate 'cack' into 'Murrican for us, ifh?

[Ted S.]

You do realize there are on-line dictionaries, right?

[T]

I don't have time for that. I have snark to dispense!

Also, the occasional bit of work so I don't get fired.

[invisible furry hand]

clumsy, inept. The idea is they've got shit on their hands as a result of their clumsiness. Also means left-handed

[Way Of The Crane]

Also means left-handed

So, pretty much evil then, huh?

[Counterfly]

Sinister.

[jesse.in.mb]

Hey, I resemble that!

[kinnath]

mollydooker

[Gene]

It can mean shitty weed oil as well, and a cacker is a big doob.

[Bardas Phocas]

In other Oz-related news:
Large Kangaroo Scrotums in short supply.
Start your hording.
http://www.brisbanetimes.com.a.....2fxor.html
Of course caused by Global Warming!

[invisible furry hand]

Actually it's El Nino. This is delightful:

Taxidermist John Kreuger said he sold 1000 tanned kangaroo scrotums per week in a range of forms, from bottle openers to key rings.

"Of course a big percentage of that are probably younger male kangaroos and they don't have the right-sized testicles," he said.
"We want the big ones.

"The more experienced kangaroos seem to know when the weather is not in favour and they take off."

[Counterfly]

"The more experienced kangaroos seem to know when the weather is not in favour and they take off."

So roos can fly now. Great, we're all freaking dead.

[LTC(ret) John]

Between flying, experienced 'roos and the drop bears, I don't know how humans can exist in Oz.

[Counterfly]

They don't. They're just sophisticated appendages of deadly sandworms built to lure people there. Like anglerfish, but with more Steve Irwin.

[AlmightyJB]

Well after cutting their nut sacks off I assume they will show us no mercy.

[NoVAHockey]

drop bear? like planting evidence?

[LTC(ret) John]

Drop Bears.

http://australianmuseum.net.au/Drop-Bear

[LTC(ret) John]

And for safety tips!

http://www.dropbearaware.com/

[itsnotmeitsyou]

CRIKEY!

[Apatheist ?_??]

I've got me one of those kangaroo scrotum bottle openers.

[Ted S.]

What will happen to all the kangaroo porn?

[LTC(ret) John]

I still say you need to release a squadron of assault kookaburras on him.

[AlmightyJB]

Damn now I want Outback kookaburra wings. And they don't open for almost 5 hours. That sucks.

[Virginian]

http://www.pagunblog.com/2013/.....-targeted/

It's about culture and control. It's about making sure those ratfucking teabag redneck morons can't perpetuate their culture. The only difference between progressives and old school imperialists is their target.

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-G.....Photo-Leak

Fuck her, I wish she had died. There is nothing I hate more then politicians who want to deny me my rights, but gleefully exercise that same right as often as possible.

[John]

Giffords is the worst. And I hate that crazy fucker that shot her more than her. Thanks dipshit for forcing the rest of us to know who this idiot is.

[T]

I don't blame Giffords at this point. I'm convinced she's not entirely cognizant.

But Mark Kelly is a fucking scumbag who deserves to burn for doing that to his wife. Even if it was a cause I knew my wife supported one hundred percent, I wouldn't parade her around like a puppet with my hand up her ass to try and score some cheap political points. I think her dignity would be a little more important to me than that.

[John]

Most liberals have the intelligence and sense of propriety as our resident monkey sock puppet below. They love nothing better than exploiting the injured and the disabled for their cause. Look at how they exploited Cindy Sheehen and then dropped her like a rock when she was no longer useful. They will do the same with Giffords and yes it is disgusting.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Reason like that is lost on John.

[John]

Says the most hateful piece of shit on earth who hasn't yet committed a suicide bombing.

[AuH2O]

Well, given that before her shooting she was a solidly pro-gun politician with good grades from gun groups, I wonder how much of her opinion change is based on being shot, and how much is based on where she was shot.

[LTC(ret) John]

Jim Brady-esque?

[Michael S. Langston]

Just like Sheehan - we can never know, but it's unlikely her son would've agreed with any of the positions she promoted when exploiting his death.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Prior to her injury Gabrielle was a Harley-owning, gun-loving hottie. The type the GOP is driving away with their shitty culture.

Culture does mean something.

[John]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuGtxt84wPQ

BUSHPIGS!! CHRISTFAGS!! Drove Gifford away!! CHRISTFAGS!!

Her being publicity seeking whore who used her injuries to go from local to national politician had nothing to do with it. God you are a lying hateful piece of human garbage.

[Zeb]

publicity seeking whore

She's a politician, so that kind of goes without saying.

[John]

Yes. But Shriek isn't that smart. These things have to be explained to him.

[Zeb]

Point taken.

[sarcasmic]

Mercedes offers first three axle model since WWII.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....i-era.html
I wonder which of the Top Gear guys will be playing with it. James?

[Tim]

You know who else owned a three axle Mercedes?

[sarcasmic]

Epi's mom?

[LTC(ret) John]

Helmut Kohl?

[Way Of The Crane]

This Guy?

[Rich]

Fletcher Markle?

[John]

That is awesome.

[Way Of The Crane]

This Guy?

[LTC(ret) John]

SF'd the link.

[LTC(ret) John]

Or should I say Zuckerfrei'd?

[invisible furry hand]

shhh... you say it three times while looking in a mirror and he appears

[Ted S.]

You mean like invoking Warty in a thread?

[LTC(ret) John]

Aieee! Now we can only say "Warty" twice more....oops, once.

[itsnotmeitsyou]

Well, since SF already showed up.

Warty
Warty

[LTC(ret) John]

WE'RE DOOMED!

[itsnotmeitsyou]

Ask, and ye shall recieve...

http://reason.com/blog/2013/03.....nt_3610270

[Way Of The Crane]

Look above, or look here

[Quetzalcoatl]

I disagree with the implication that Treasury Secretary Lew is one of nature's most awesome killing machines.

[Fist of Etiquette]

Treasury Secretary Jack Lew's not worried about market bubbles.

Xanax?

[DJF]

Probably because he already has his next job arranged with Goldman Sachs. If I was too big too fail I would not care about bubbles either.

[robc]

Im not worried about bubbles either, they will eventually fix themselves.

[Ted S.]

You know who else liked bubbles?

[invisible furry hand]

Michael Jackson?

[LTC(ret) John]

Lawrence Welk?

[BakedPenguin]

Julian and Ricky?

[Ska]

I'm watching you, shit sledder.

[Cavpitalist]

Kima?

[BlueBook]

The obsessed fish in the dentist's tank in Finding Nemo?

[Counterfly]

Blossom and Buttercup?

[Chaucer]

Sharon Osbourne?

[invisible furry hand]

Homeowners ruined by Spain's economic crisis and their defenders hailed a big step forward on Thursday after Europe's top court ruled that the country's eviction laws breached EU rules.

"There is no justice in Spain, but luckily there is in Europe," said Delia Esther Molina, 57, an unemployed Cuban who is facing eviction, demonstrating outside the Spanish parliament.

more

[MP]

Squatter's paradise! And they thought their real estate values had hit bottom. Think again.

[Zeb]

Why does anyone still own rental property in places like that? I guess it's probably pretty hard to sell.

[sarcasmic]

Swiss company plans for low cost satellite delivery system.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sci.....ealed.html
Estimated to be a quarter of the cost of paying a government to do it.

[NeonCat]

It's a giant cuckoo clock lying on it's back. When it strikes the hour an enormous spring flings the satellite into orbit.

[LTC(ret) John]

Thanks for the heads up - now if one of our Swiss bosses ask us to sit in a particular chair and mentions an "exit plan" I'll know to avoid the room.

"Where is Bob"

"He had an early launch...er, lunch".

[Bee Tagger]

"There's always going to be concern not to get to a point where we have the seeds of a future crisis," Lew said. "The analysis I've seen doesn't give me reason to be worried right now."

I'm sure the follow-up question was, "Mr. Lew, do you have a track record of being able to predict these things with accuracy?"

[Ted S.]

What difference is this point does it make?

[Rich]

"Mr. Lew, will you make public the one so-called analysis you've seen?"

[itsnotmeitsyou]

Healthcare premiums are expected to increase by up to 100 percent due to Obamacare.

Headaches induced from applying are expected to go up 10,000%

http://www.washingtonpost.com/.....plication/

And ten things that are easier than applying... Like applying for a bank charter...

http://www.iheartchaos.com/pos.....plying-for

[sarcasmic]

Moonshiners 'Tickle' arrested for... public intoxication!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....ation.html
Turns out Tickle is his real surname.

[John]

I assume that show like all reality shows if faked, otherwise the ATF would have showed up long ago.

[Zeb]

Either that or they are secretly paying the excise taxes for him.

[sarcasmic]

I dunno. I mean, the ATF, to win a case in court, has to catch them in the act and collect evidence. What is shown on the program is not enough. It could be real, it could be a dramatization. They don't show enough to tell which, or to get a court conviction. Best the ATF could do is get a warrant to search their property for moonshine and equipment. It's not like the ATF is going to magically swoop down on them while they're moonshining unless they get a tip or get really lucky. They've got to know where and when. Who is not enough.

But yeah, it makes no logical sense for someone engaging in illegal activity like that to show their smiling face on national television. Nobody is that dumb. At least I hope not. Then again this is Virginia

[John]

But everything the guy says on the show would be admissible against him in court. I haven't watched the show, but I assume he says he is making booze illegally. That combined with really any physical evidence from his farm showing that he did would be enough to convict.

[sarcasmic]

From what I've gathered, the show was filmed back in 2009. Since then they've gone legit. So any equipment or shine that they now have is all legal.
Besides, I thought that there was a greater burden of proof than "Here's the equipment, here's what he said he did with it. Guilty."
I thought they had to actually catch the person in the act.

[sarcasmic]

Scratch that. I guess he still hasn't gone legal. But still. I thought there was a greater burden of proof than "He said he did it, here's the end product and the equipment." I thought they had to prove that the product came from that equipment while being operated by that specific person. As in catch them in the act.

[John]

You prove that by his statement. He confessed to the crime on national TV. All you need is a bit of corroborative evidence that confirms it. You can't be convicted on the basis of a confession alone. If I confessed to the Kennedy assassination, I couldn't be convicted no matter how ardently I claimed to be guilty because there would be no physical evidence to support my claim. But if there is any corroborative evidence at all, the confession becomes admissible and I can be convicted based on pretty much that and a little corroboration alone.

[sarcasmic]

He confessed to the crime on national TV.

"Everyone knows that 'reality' shows are fake! C'mon!"

[itsnotmeitsyou]

Yeah, seems to me that would be an exceedingly easy defense if they didn't catch him in the act. All the TV footage could easily be explained away as props and staging. Him "admitting" to it? It's TV, you mean people lie on TV? Even if they had some finished product, that could just be legally made moonshine that they put in bottles.

[John]

Yes, you could claim you were lying on TV. But the physical evidence showing you had a still and such would make that a bit hard.

[sarcasmic]

You're assuming that he left physical evidence somewhere where they could find it and prove it was his.

Isn't that the whole point of doing it in the woods? So there's nothing on your property that they can prove belongs to you?

[Zeb]

legally made moonshine

I thought moonshine was by definition illegally made.

[itsnotmeitsyou]

I thought moonshine was by definition illegally made.

I don't know what the legal definitions are, but I know that I can buy moonshine at my local liquor store. Tastes the same as the bootleg stuff I've had, the legal stuff just pays taxes/licenses or whatever BS the gov says you need.

Yes, you could claim you were lying on TV. But the physical evidence showing you had a still and such would make that a bit hard.

Is the mere possession of a still illegal? If so, I suppose they could prosecute on that, but I think it's kinda like owning a bong. You can legally own one, you just can't use it for illegal purposes.

[LTC(ret) John]

"...but I think it's kinda like owning a bong. You can legally own one, you just can't use it for illegal purposes."

Don't try that in IL - you'll end up with a Class A misdemeanor. "Possession of Drug Paraphernalia"
http://www.ilga.gov/legislatio.....apterID=53

[itsnotmeitsyou]

Yeah, different states, different rules regarding morality.

In Ohio, it's perfectly legal to walk around carrying a bowl or a bong as long as it doesn't have any residue on it.

[sarcasmic]

I thought moonshine was by definition illegally made.

Moonshine is corn whiskey that is not aged in charred barrels.
I'm pretty sure that, until fairly recently, all commercially sold whiskey had to be aged. So yeah, it was all illegal by default.
Kinda like 'homebrew' meant illegally made beer until it home brewing was legalized in the 1970s.

[Zeb]

But I think that the term "moonshine" came about because of late night distilling to avoid detection. But now I guess drinking "moonshine" is some new hipster trend, so maybe it just means unaged corn liquor now.

[itsnotmeitsyou]

I believe you are correct on the origin of the word. At the risk of sounding hipsterish, I have been drinking moonshine since before you could buy it from the liquor store, so I don't think it's just a hipster trend. It's actually cheaper and better quality from the liquor store, but the distilling process is the same (minus the missing teeth and inbreeding) as it was when I bought it from Bubba. I'd much rather buy it legally and not risk trouble with the law, another reason I don't buy from Bubba anymore.

Of course, I don't think Bubba's operation should be illegal in the first place. But that's a different discussion.

[sarcasmic]

The thing about distilling is that not all alcohols are equal. The first stuff that trickles out of the still is methyl alcohol. That's the shit that makes people go blind. You're supposed to throw it away. But some people supposedly don't know any better, and that's the government reasoning behind the stuff being illegal. Well, that and the revenue. OK. All they care about is the revenue.

[sgs]

"Moonshine is corn whiskey"

Incorrect. Raw sugar is often used when corn is too expensive.

[sarcasmic]

I should have said "white whiskey."

[Fist of Etiquette]

Separatists in Pakistan are using children to deliver bomb packages.

Grabby feely pedo TSA agents vindicated.

[Tim]

Do they deliver on saturdays?

[LTC(ret) John]

Yes, but not on Friday.

[Counterfly]

Or any time after noon on Thursdays really.

[LTC(ret) John]

Too busy with Man-Love Thursday, true.

[Counterfly]

Hey, what happens behind the conex, stays behind the conex.

[gaijin]

Separatist, rebel, terrorist...i guess it all depends on who your friends are.

[Tim]

Separatists in Pakistan are using children to deliver bomb packages.

" ...we used to use retards, but too many of them decide to open the package themselves."

[sarcasmic]

Elsa Hosk or Candice Swanepoel?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....ation.html
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....ikini.html
I vote Elsa. Not that I'd kick Candice out of bed.

[LTC(ret) John]

I reject your false choice dilemma....I vote both.

(but if pressed, I might have to say Swanepoel).

[Counterfly]

I'll take the top half of one, and the bottom half of the other.

[Bobarian]

I would take your left-overs.

[mnarayan]

You already used the Elsa link. Did the sequester your DM viewing or something?

[sarcasmic]

I'm only allowed to use links once? I'm so sorry. I didn't know that I had to follow your rules. Please let me know what the rest of your rules are so I can be sure to follow them. Your servant, sarcasmic. Oh, and feel free to suck it.

[mnarayan]

If you double use links we'll run out of anchor tags. Also, I anticipated new Elsa pictures, and the let down I experienced was literally criminal. I don't make such laws, I just inform on people who break them.

[sarcasmic]

I anticipated new Elsa pictures, and the let down I experienced was literally criminal.

Understood. I apologize.

[Restoras]

Why isn't "Both!" a choice?

[PS]

Since this has relevance to libertarians, I'm going to blogwhore:

Neandertals Went Extinct Because They Were Rugged Individualists

[sarcasmic]

Furthering the collectivist fallacy that those of us who oppose coerced cooperation are against voluntary cooperation.

[PS]

Or that cooperation is more important than innovation for survival.

[KPres]

Cooperation is everything! The whole reason collectivism fails is that it prevents or restrains self-interested expression, meaning people with similar interests and talents don't come together in cooperation.

[NeonCat]

I'm still of the opinion that they went extinct because they didn't get enough to eat. Neandertals had heavier bones and stronger muscles with an increased caloric requirement compared to H. Sapiens. It's hard to sustain pregnancies without enough food - starve enough and a woman's periods stop altogether. I suspect H. Sapiens became dominant in part because they/we didn't need to eat as much to survive, and there wasn't as much food available during the period Neandertals went extinct.

[robc]

Since we all have neanderthal dna, they arent extinct.

Which is an even easier argument.

1 to 4 percent for non-Africans.

[NeonCat]

They're extinct enough that we don't have Neandertal-Americans around to have parades and victim study departments for.

[Matrix]

give it time

[AuH2O]

When confronted with a challenge, our ancestors did what they knew best: bone.

[robc]

Considering there is no Neanderthal traces in mitochondrial DNA, it appears our female ancestors were doing all the boning.

[KDN]

So boning a dude to piss off your old man is a basic female instinct. This is why I don't want daughters.

[sgs]

"Since we all have neanderthal dna, they arent extinct."

Yeah, but that's not the definition of extinct, so they're still extinct.

[itsnotmeitsyou]

We all have DNA from a common ancestor with apes. Doesn't make that species any less extinct either.

[KPres]

Actually, it says they went extinct because of protectionist unions:

Neanderthals couldn't create complex societies or trade networks to overcome resource scarcities, which scientists think ultimately did them in.

[PS]

Using parietal lobe data we conclude it was a clear lack of Jimmy Hoffas that led to the Neandertal downfall.

[LTC(ret) John]

+1

[invisible furry hand]

A YOUNG mum has been arrested after video footage emerged of her sharing a bong with her 22-month-old son.

Read more

[Counterfly]

Puff puff pass. Just as god intended.

[CampingInYourPark]

"Republicans Serve Lobster During Obama Lunch"

"This comes on the heels of the lobster thermidor meal Obama dined on with several moderate GOP senators at the Jefferson hotel last week. Filet of prime beef was also served as THE POLITICIANS TRIED TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO CUT THE BUDGET."

http://www.whitehousedossier.c.....ama-lunch/

[itsnotmeitsyou]

I suppose the budget should just eat cake, then...

[Quetzalcoatl]

To me, the big deal isn't the lobster (which isn't that expensive). It's that the lobster dish is named after a month in the French Revolutionary calendar. I mean, that is just poetic irony like you never see in real life.

[LTC(ret) John]

*flings copy of

[LTC(ret) John]

Agh, squirrlez!

*flings copy of Germinal into the air and huzzahs Quetzalcoatl's point*

[A Frayed Knot]

Glad I'm not the only one who caught that.

[Rasilio]

Eh, Lobster is hardly the high end luxury food it used to be, especially here in the Northeast.

Hell it is pound for pound far cheaper than most other meats, especially during the Summer fishing season.

Last Summer you could get live lobsters for $3.99 a lb which would translate to somewhere between $15 and $20 per lb for the meat, expensive yes but right in line with the price for things like Prime Rib

[Stormy Dragon]

I read an article a few months ago that was discussing how lobster prices have cratered because people think of it as a luxury food and stopped eating it during the recession, leading to a glut. Basically a real world "no one goes there anymore because it's too crowded" situation.

[Virginian]

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/dia.....un-debate/

Time to play "I'm just a poor little woman being bullied by the big mean old man" card. Feminsim nose on, Feminism nose off.

[Bardas Phocas]

Mexicans are just naturally misoginstic and love mansplaining to the females.

[Ice Nine]

He's Cuban.

[John]

I am sure she did feel patronized. Saying incredibly stupid things will tend to cause people to patronize you. It is pretty hard to speak to someone with the intelligence and maturity level of an angry 8 year old and not be patronizing.

[gaijin]

Why does Feinstein hate hispanics?

[VG Zaytsev]

She's a top (wo)man who's seen scary things like dead bodies. How dare that upitty bus boy ask her a question.

[Rich]

"When you come from where I've come from and what you've seen, when you found a dead body and put your finger in bullet holes, you really realize the impact of weapons."

"You can point that finger up your ass."

[LTC(ret) John]

"You don't know, man! I've been out in the shit...and I've seen things"

Hey, Senator Ma'am, fuck off, slaver.

[Tim]

I saw the video last night and it creeped me out. You could tell her jaw and facial muscles were moving but her face was just hanging there like a mask. Like watching the ape actors in the original Planet of the Apes.

[NeonCat]

Has it ever occurred to her that Dan White, being a politician, would almost certainly have been granted the right to carry a firearm?

[thom]

Wasn't he a retired cop too?

[AuH2O]

Remember: When you need to made a video about girl power, she is a strong independent woman.

And when you need to score political points, she is a delicate flower who would faint away dead from anyone even trying to assert that she could be in error about anything.

God, this is like Gender Studies 101, Cyril!

[Bobarian]

Nice Archer Ref

[Bones]

The comment section is insane.

[itsnotmeitsyou]

Why on Earth would you subject yourself to that level of Derp?

[invisible furry hand]

Guy from Atlanta invents Soylent because eating real food is inefficient

more

[Quetzalcoatl]

Soylent Beige?

[Quetzalcoatl]

Also: this guy is a software engineer. Totally called it.

He doesn't have enough time to fry an egg in the morning, but he has enough time to mix his little powders every day?

Aaaaaaand the punchline:

if I had any money or a girlfriend I would probably eat out more often.

[Zeb]

I do something sort of similar for breakfast, but it's just a 1/4 cup of flax seeds ground up and mixed with milk.

[Quetzalcoatl]

Software engineer?

[T]

That sounds revolting.

[LTC(ret) John]

I think you are being polite limiting that to "revolting".

[Zeb]

It's not so bad. Flax seeds taste pretty good and are good for you. It's a little gritty, but doesn't take long to drink. I've never been all that big on eating first thing in the morning, so it works well.

But no, I'm not a software engineer. I do eat normal food for other meals.

[Jordan]

I eat nothing for breakfast because it comes too fucking early. I'm out the door 10 minutes after I get up. And yes, I'm a software engineer.

[CampingInYourPark]

"'He looked longingly at it,' Collins continued. 'He honestly did look longingly at it, but apparently he has to have essentially a taster, and I pointed out to him that we were all tasters for him, that if the food had been poisoned all of us would have keeled over so, but he did look longingly at it and he remarked that we have far better food than the Democrats do, and I said that was because I was hosting.'"

http://dailycaller.com/2013/03.....z2Nc5cXQgB

[Bee Tagger]

The only conclusion I can draw is that Obama has been doubled and the double is running the country while the original is stuck being the taster. How else to explain the way he's turned his back the progressives while also explaining the existence of a taster that has the exact same DNA.

[gaijin]

The only conclusion I can draw is that Obama has been doubled and the double is running the country

Philip K Dick's novel the Simulacra?

[LTC(ret) John]

That would explain a lot, actually.

[Virginian]

Never thought I'd be reading an article where Susan Collins was the smart one.

[Quetzalcoatl]

My impression of Obama.

[db]

CALLING SUGAR FREE:

Your, mission, should you choose to accept it, is to use the phrase "he looked longingly at it" in a topical short fiction of your preferred genre.

[WTF]

Why, why would you ask for such horror?

[db]

*dances little jig*

It's my nature.

[SugarFree]

"He looked longingly at it," Collins whispered, absently picking at a scab on her left nipple. "He honestly did look longingly at it, but apparently he has to have essentially a taster, and I pointed out to him that we were all tasters for him, that if the boy had been poisoned all of us would have keeled over already, but he did look longingly at it and he remarked that we have far better boy-whores than the Democrats do, and I said that was because I was hosting."

"And then what happen?" the reporter prompted. It was cold in the parking garage and he jumped when a car back-fired on the floor above.

Collins lowered her voice, and hugged her trench-coat tight. "He flew into a rage, of course. We've all them before. Everyone knows he beat Bernake to death with an ashtray in the Oval Office and they covered it up. Why do you think he had to go? The double couldn't spin that level of retarded bullshit to Congress like Ben could. Anyway, he couldn't have the boy so he decided none of us could either. What he did..." Collins trailed off, her eyes wet with tears. She fumbled out a pack of cigarettes and lighter. The lighter fell out of her hand, and the clicks of it bouncing away in the darkness were incredibly loud.

"You have to tell me. The world needs to know." He looked at the recorder in his hand, making sure it was running.

Collins sniffled and looked at the cigarettes while she spoke. "What that bastard did to that boy with a lobster. I'll never forget it. Never."

[invisible furry hand]

the prose says Mr Free, the typos say John...

[SugarFree]

The SugarFree Unpornity Principle: You can either have it fast or have it proofed, never both.

The character limit is cramping my style, by the way.

[invisible furry hand]

Which is why it's unporn. Who can masturbate successfully to incorrect conjugation?

[db]

Isn't it all about incorrect conjugal stuff?

[db]

Now that's service!

[John]

A United Nations researcher says U.S. drones in Pakistan regularly kill innocent people.

The people who fight wars by hiding amongst civilians of course bear no responsibility.

[gaijin]

The people who fight wars by hiding amongst civilians of course bear no responsibility.
Sure, but they don't care. We're supposed to be better than that.

[Virginian]

Bullshit John. The man who fires the weapon is responsible for the damage the weapon does. In WWII, we bombed factories, some filled with slave labor, because it needed to be done. They did not hide from the reality of what they were doing, they did not flinch from the necessity, but they didn't deny the truth of their actions.

Look, if you think the death of some mid level AQ guy living in bumfuck Pakistan is worth incinerating women and children, then argue that. But don't pretend that we need to hit these guys in their homes. The threat doesn't rise to that level.

[John]

There is a reason why not wearing a uniform and hiding amongst civilians is the most vile war crimes. It is called using human shields. By your argument if the US had taken Iraqi children and strapped them to the front of their convoys, the resulting deaths of said kids would have been the insurgents' fault not the fault of the US for putting them in danger because . The man who fires the weapon is responsible for the damage the weapon does.? Right?

[SugarFree]

President Obama thanks you for your support in the these difficult times, John.

[John]

The truth and the law of war are what they are. I am not going to pretend they are something else because it prevents me from disliking Obama. If you guys don't like the truth, too bad, sometimes life is like that.

[SugarFree]

At least you and shrike have something you can agree on.

[John]

Shrike is a fucking moron who has never had a reasoned thought in his life. The fact that he may like a stopped clock support a proper position because that is what his handlers told him to support means nothing.

[Tim]

"Separatists in Pakistan are using children to deliver bomb packages."

The poor man's drones. The poor, evil motherfucking demonic asshole's answer to drones.

[Tim]

In both cases, kid's die.

[CampingInYourPark]

We're not at war with Pakistan. If this was America and not Pakistan would those collateral deaths be okay too?

[John]

We are at war with Pakistan because Pakistan is effectively at war with us. If Pakistan doesn't like us fight back, they ought to do something about the people using their territory as a safe haven to attack Afghanistan. If the US were letting people use Texas as a safe haven to attack Mexico, would you blame Mexico for bombing them in Texas?

[CampingInYourPark]

"If the US were letting people use Texas as a safe haven to attack Mexico, would you blame Mexico for bombing them in Texas?"

There are terrorists in the United States right now. Would you blame Mexico for bombing the US now?

[John]

There are terrorists in the United States right now. Would you blame Mexico for bombing the US now?

If those people were actively plotting attacks on Mexico and the US refused to do anything about it, yes Mexico would have every right to defend themselves.

[Virginian]

You are conflating combat with the policy of assassination practiced in Pakistan.

If you lay an airstrike on a mortar pit, which just so happens to be on the roof of the home, that sucks, but it's war. The mortar is currently engaging American soldiers, which makes it an act of war.

In Pakistan, we are firing missiles into homes that are inhabited by people who the government claims are our sworn enemies, dangerous AQ terrorists. Even if that is true for every single house they hit, the fact is this can be done in a much more targeted way. The threat is not active, it's not imminent, it's not immediate. You cannot fire a missile into a man's home simply because some GS-10 at CIA thinks he's a terrorist.

[John]

Virginian,

In Pakistan, since they are waging a war over the border against Afghanistan, there is nothing that says the threat has to be imminent for us to whack them. And the problem is that Pakistan can't control these areas and won't capture these guys. If they were willing to do that, you would have a point. But my understanding is they are not. So we have every right to find them and kill them ourselves.

[Virginian]

Goddamn it, you keep conflating "war" with "alleged plotting of terrorism". THEY ARE NOT THE SAME FUCKING THING.

You see a guy planting an IED, you see a guy firing a mortar, or one of those shitty rockets they use sometimes, or firing on Americans or allied troops, fine go ahead and call in the air support.

But that is not what we are doing in Pakistan. The US government is executing people without due process of law, or even the barest semblance of it. If he is not currently actively shooting a weapon at Americans, you need to prove beyond any doubt that he is an active part of terrorist operations. Then you need to take him out in a way which absolutely minimizes collateral damage. Send a specops team. Wait till his family leaves the house. Wait till he leaves and drives out to some isolated area for a meeting. Develop intelligence, and be sure. Don't just fire missiles into people's homes whil their children are there.

[CampingInYourPark]

"they ought to do something about the people using their territory as a safe haven to attack Afghanistan"

The idea that you think it is justifiable to kill innocents in another country if Obama doesn't think they are policing their state properly is more than disturbing.

[John]

It is not about "policing", it is about waging war on Afghanistan. What about the innocent people in Afghanistan AQ and the Taliban kill? Reason never seems to give a fuck about them. They are not politically convenient victims I guess.

[CampingInYourPark]

"It is not about 'policing'"

"they ought to do something about the people using their territory"

If it's not about policing, what exactly do you have in mind they "do" about people using their territory?

[Cavpitalist]

Oh, are we at war in Pakistan?

[Tim]

We have always been at war with Pakistan.

[John]

So if we were you would be okay with it? If you don't like it, bitch about the war being waged at all not otherwise lawful waging of it.

[Cavpitalist]

You seem to have missed the point. We aren't at war with Pakistan, so these guys aren't surrounding themselves with human shields, they're living their lives. They have no responsibility to stay away from non-jihadists on the off chance that Barack Obama decides to illegally shoot missiles into their non-belligerent nation.

Otherwise, you're surrounding yourself with human shields every time you go into public. After all, if we're at war with Pakistan ("effectively" at war with Pakistan, which is obviously the appropriate standard), and you support the terrorist killing of innocent Pakistani citizens, they have a right to blow your ass up without you surrounding yourself with all of those human shields.

[John]

Nothing makes these people not wear uniforms and live in the middle of civilian populations. They only do that because they want to make it harder for us and to create as many civilian casualties when we do find them. And yes, if someone who was actively waging war against Pakistan moved in next door to me and Pakistan showed up one day and bombed his house killing me in the process, my death would be the fault of my neighbor and the US government for not stopping him. It would not be the fault of Pakistan. Otherwise, living amongst civilians would be a free pass to wage war.

[Cavpitalist]

And yes, if someone who was actively waging war against Pakistan moved in next door to me and Pakistan showed up one day and bombed his house killing me in the process, my death would be the fault of my neighbor and the US government for not stopping him.

Oh, so 9/11 WAS justified.

Interesting theory.

[Cavpitalist]

Oh, and there is nothing lawful about shooting missiles into a non-belligerent nation. Nothing whatsoever.

[John]

Oh, and there is nothing lawful about shooting missiles into a non-belligerent nation

Pakistan is a belligerent nation. They have an obligation to keep control of their territory. They are allowing people to use their territory as a safe haven for people making war on Afghanistan.

[CampingInYourPark]

"They have an obligation to keep control of their territory."

By what authority are they obligated to control their territory in a manner other than the way they see fit to control it?

[John]

By what authority are they obligated to control their territory in a manner other than the way they see fit to control it?

The Kellog Briand Treaty banning aggressive war combined with international law for about 500 years. You can't let people use your territory to wage war on another country. How is that any different than attacking the country yourself?

[CampingInYourPark]

"You can't let people use your territory to wage war on another country. How is that any different than attacking the country yourself?"

If there is evidence that Pakistan is "letting" people use their country to attack another country then it should be presented and a war on Pakistan declared. All the rest is mealy mouthed bullshit used to justify actions that are themselves questionable in regard to international law.

[Rights-Minimalist Autocrat]

So when the cops show up and shoot your dog, too bad, you shouldn't have had a dog.

[Night Elf Mohawk]

Would always traveling in a truck along with women and child be a get out of jail free card for an AQ guy? How high up the hierarchy would that apply?

[Azathoth!!]

This could just as easily apply to WW2.

"The people who build munitions with slave labor of course bear no responsibility"

And this, could apply to Pakistan...

"The man who fires the weapon is responsible for the damage the weapon does. In Pakistan, we bombed terrorists, some hid in schools, some hid in mosques--so many hid among innocents, but we did it because it needed to be done. They did not hide from the reality of what they were doing, they did not flinch from the necessity, but they didn't deny the truth of their actions.

And what was the truth of their actions? Would we have been bombing--in WW2 or Pakistan without provocation?*

Did we not, in both conflicts, justify our actions as stopping the ones who started the conflict?

*whatever one thinks of the 'provocation', the government of the US regards itself as duly provoked.

[Restoras]

At this point, too many innocents are being vaporized and the powers that be are looking longingly at extending the drone war to the precious homeland.

Time to ground the drones.

[Rasilio]

And if you were talking about Hammas or even some of the shit during the Iraq War you might have a point. However in this case these guys don't even think they are "fighting a war" at that moment not are they exactly hiding because they are nowhere near the enemy.

It is one thing to attack active combatants when there are civilians nearby, it is something else entirely to blow up an enemy soldier or leader far away from any battlefield when he is surrounded by civilians

[Rich]

"There's always going to be concern not to get to a point where we have the seeds of a future crisis," Lew said.

Why the Top. Men. pull down the big bucks.

[db]

Never let a good crisis go to waste, especially if you can create it.

[CampingInYourPark]

"(Reuters) - Egypt's ruling Muslim Brotherhood warns that a U.N. declaration on women's rights could destroy society by allowing a woman to travel, work and use contraception without her husband's approval and letting her control family spending."

How's that Arab Spring working out for you, Ladies?

http://www.reuters.com/article.....3D20130315

[John]

But the MB were a joke. They were never going to take over Egypt. They were not even political. Reason told me so.

[robc]

No one said that.

And I know what I said at the time: Getting rid of Mubarak is worth the gamble. The Egyptians lost. They should play again.

[John]

Under Mubarak they had a functioning economy and a country people wanted to visit. It was only worth the gamble if they had shot every member of the Brotherhood up front.

[robc]

Getting rid of a tyrant is always worth the gamble, keeping him his a guaranteed loss.

They just need to do it again, and try for a better outcome this time.

Revolutions mostly fail. The situations that work out like the American Revolution are rare. That doesnt mean you shouldnt try.

[John]

They just need to do it again, and try for a better outcome this time.

Too late. The brotherhood were the only ones with guns and the willingness to kill. In a situation like that hipsters sitting in coffee shops on twitter don't matter.

[robc]

The hipsters need to be willing to kill or they dont deserve better.

[NeonCat]

"We were killing before killing became cool."

[Zeb]

It's up to the Egyptians, isn't it? I don't think you are saying that the US should have propped up Mubarak, but if that's not it, what's your point?

[Ted S.]

We let DiFi and Barbara Boxer travel by themselves and work, and look what that's gotten us.

[T]

Strangely, Rick Santorum probably agrees.

[LTC(ret) John]

Picking up the Shriek role today?

[Tim]

It's a ready made market for all those three axle Mercedes.

[ant1sthenes]

Well, if my only impression of women came from reading Jezebel or watching how Democrats campaigned to them, I'd probably agree with that sentiment.

[Gene]

It's not Bubbles he should concern himself with, it's Ricky, you wouldn't believe what he did to Alex Lifeson.

[gaijin]

+1 TPB

[Rich]

Venezuela's government said on Wednesday it may not be possible to embalm the remains of late leader Hugo Chavez as planned because the process should have been started earlier.

One word: Plasticize.

[Quetzalcoatl]

Additional proof that he was dead for a while before they announced it?

[Eduard van Haalen]

I suppose you could say, boys and girls, that there's a little bit of *el jefe* in all of us - at least if you've eaten at the cafe at the Simon Bolivar Elementary School recently.

[LTC(ret) John]

That is loathsome....and funny.

[CampingInYourPark]

"Homeless man steals iPhone from 3-year-old boy in Greenwich Village: police"

"...he tried to make up for the callousness of his alleged crime by patting Aidan on the head, saying, 'Thank you,' and tossing the boy a measly $3."

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/l.....tent=Local

[Ted S.]

All the cool kids have Samsung Galaxy phones, anyway.

[Virginian]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/new.....ead_module

Community service is apparently tougher then prison in the UK. Churchill would weep if he were alive.

[John]

It is just a matter of time before people start taking things into their own hands. If the law won't do justice, the mob will. If you were that girl's parents or brother, how could you not just take a ball bat or in this case a cricket bat to his head and be done with him?

[Quetzalcoatl]

I'm told that baseball bats actually are very popular in the jolly UK for that very reason.

[Quetzalcoatl]

Found a link, sorry about the source. No, Ted, it's not a slideshow.

[Ted S.]

Huffington Post is a terrible memory hog, anyway. It's the main reason I was so sad to see Radley Balko move there full-time.

[Ted S.]

But thanks for thinking of me. Everybody should be so considerate. :-p

[robc]

I would think a cricket bat would work as well and would be easier to get in the UK.

[John]

I would think it wouldn't be hard to find a group of Yobbos or young pissed off Muslims who would gladly break this guy's legs in return for a few hundred quid.

[invisible furry hand]

You might want to play cricket with the cricket bat. Using a good cricket bat to cave in someone's skull would get blood on the grip and stain the wood. It would attract attention as you stand at the crease

[BakedPenguin]

This is why you knock them in first. Jesus, ifh, you shouldn't need me to tell you this.

[NeonCat]

I think it would be more intimidating, but that probably isn't cricket.

[Zeb]

I think the cricket bats are just too unwieldy. And they play softball everywhere, don't they?

[LTC(ret) John]

12" or 16"?

[secretly hoping to start a fresh debate in the same vein as the pizza wars]

[robc]

fastpitch.

(there are more pizzas than just New York and Chicago style)

[robc]

And, just to clarify something, fastpitch uses an 11" ball.

[LTC(ret) John]

Where I am from, in co-rec leagues, the women hit 11"...

[Zeb]

I have no idea what that means.

Last time I played softball was in a just for fun slow pitch league in college. My finest moment was running full speed into a female dean who was standing in front of first base.

[A Frayed Knot]

I am an awful person for saying this, but he turned a Butterworth into a butterface.

But seriously, this guy deserves mob justice - his sentence is unbelievable.

[Eduard van Haalen]

This is the country which disarms the public because they ought to rely on the police.

Strange how a government which is strong enough to disarm the innocent seems so hesitant about punishing the guilty.

[Virginian]

From what I've seen of the UK criminal justice system, it is every pie in the sky dream of liberal "criminologists" made flesh. Sentences are absurdly light for things like rape, aggravated assault, and murder.

[Virginian]

http://online.wsj.com/article/.....12906.html

The idea has elements that appeal to lawmakers in both parties: It would take the proceeds from increased offshore oil and gas production and use them to pay for research into technologies that would make vehicles less dependent on oil.

_________

Because fuck the debt. We need more advanced cars!

[John]

Because no one would ever pay for research that would produce cheap energy. Lets make existing energy more expensive so we can give more money to green energy frauds and cronies. Only an idea that dishonest and stupid could have bipartisan appeal.

[Tim]

Since respiration results in the release of CO2 I think we should fund research into finding something else to breathe besides air.

[Virginian]

Yeah the simultaneous belief liberals have that

a. Corporations are cheap, ruthless cost cutters who will do anything to save a buck.

b. Corporations would never invest in technology that would make one of their biggest expenses a smaller line item.

[Palin's Buttplug]

Senator Rob Portman announces his support of gay marriage.

http://www.dispatch.com/conten.....rried.html

Coincidentally, he says his son is gay.

[ant1sthenes]

Whatever works.

[some guy]

This is probably the only thing that will work on this issue. As more and more gays come out everybody currently against gay marriage will begin to realize that they know and like someone who is gay. There will always be pockets of resistance like there are pockets of racism, but it will cease to be a national issue.

[jesse.in.mb]

That's entirely the point. Harvey Milk frequently harangued people to come out to friends and family. His speeches tend to be overwrought but he makes a point. It's very easy make war against a kooky drag queen in the big city, but when your kid tells you he's gay you seriously have to reassess whether the gays are that bizarre.

Gay brothers and sisters,... You must come out. Come out... to your parents... I know that it is hard and will hurt them but think about how they will hurt you in the voting booth! Come out to your relatives... come out to your friends... if indeed they are your friends. Come out to your neighbors... to your fellow workers... to the people who work where you eat and shop... come out only to the people you know, and who know you. Not to anyone else. But once and for all, break down the myths, destroy the lies and distortions. For your sake. For their sake.

[John]

http://washington.cbslocal.com.....ar-weapon/

Good thing we didn't elect Romney. He was going to bomb Iran.

[Drax the Destroyer]

So, in other words, there was virtually nothing distinguishing him from black Jesus other than skin color, practically speaking.

[invisible furry hand]

well he has had a real job

[CampingInYourPark]

"National Archives Cancels Late Afternoon, Evening Tours Due to Budget Cuts"

http://www.nbcwashington.com/n.....33451.html

[Ted S.]

As I said regarding the White House tours, just charge a nominal amount for htem to cover the cost of the tour guide.

[NoVAHockey]

they need to cancel more stuff. tourist season is back and apparently crosswalks and "don't walk" signs are a foreign concept.

[thom]

People who choose to live in DC and then bitch about tourists are like people who buy houses next to college campuses and then get upset when there are parties and drunk kids walking around.

If I ever get dragged into that god-foresaken city again I am almost definitely going to stand to the left on an escalator.

[AuH2O]

It's probably not anywhere in the Constitution, but the history major in me fucking LOVES the national archives.

[PowerBottom]

Game Developer for Red Orchestra says Call of Duty "has almost ruined a generation of shooter players..."

http://www.pcgamer.com/2013/03.....interview/

[John]

I am blocked. Why is that?

[Virginian]

For an analogy, imagine an indie rock group complaining about Nickleback. His main issue is that Red Orchestra doesn't sell a gazillion copies and make him rich.

[PowerBottom]

Virginian, that is exactly the message I got from it as well.

[Virginian]

Gaming, like all the other entertainment industries, is dominated by a few big publishing companies. All the indie companies sneer at them, talk about how they're ruining gaming, and talk about "appealing to the lowest common denominator" and "dumbing down games"

And all these indie devs would sell their children into slavery to have one of their titles sell the way every single COD game does.

[itsnotmeitsyou]

I got that message, too. It's particularly annoying when he is talking about the game mechanics that people like and bitching that the only way they know how to quantify it is saying "like CoD". Sorry bud, not everyone is a game designer and knows how to quantify game mechanics. That's your job, not the players. If I don't like how a particular shooter feels or how a driving game's physics work, I'm not going to sit down and offer the developer a dissertation on what I would change and exactly how to implement it. I'm just going to find a game that I DO like.

[ant1sthenes]

Because it's a massive turd?

[invisible furry hand]

is there anything that can't be blamed on Call of Duty?

[LTC(ret) John]

Locusts in Egypt? Maybe?

[db]

Because nobody know how to play a shooter that doesn't run on rails anymore?

[itsnotmeitsyou]

*crotchety old gamer mode activated*

Newer games, especially shooters, have become such hand-holding experiences that they lose a lot of their fun. You can only go from point A to point B on any given map and there are X number of guys in Y places. Every objective and every item is glaringly obvious and you usually get a directional arrow or something to make sure you're going in the right direction.

[AuH2O]

And although I loved Gears and Mass Effect, every... fucking... game... is a goddamn cover-based shooter.

[NoVAHockey]

i got into portal b/c I could walk around without getting shot in 5 seconds by some 13 year old.

call of duty for me is either the solo waves of enemies or zombies

[itsnotmeitsyou]

More games need multiplayer co-op mode. I really have no interest in being shot by 13 year olds every 5 seconds either. I'm fairly good at FPS games, but I don't have the free gaming time that these kids have, so I'm not nearly as good as them.

I play games for entertainment. If I wanted to get pissed off by 13 year olds, I'd go to the mall and ask random people their thoughts on current music.

Au2H2O, I don't mind the cover based system sometimes. As long as it's relevant and well executed, like in Gears and ME. But yeah, most of them suck.

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

I agree here. Multiplayer co-op is my favourite game play mode for shooters.

Red Dead Revolver and Grand Theft Auto beat shooters every time though.

[itsnotmeitsyou]

I gotta say. Best co-op multiplayer execution goes to Borderlands. The scaling works great and being able to pop in and out of someone's team at any time is great.

[thom]

Newer games, especially shooters, have become such hand-holding experiences that they lose a lot of their fun.

I still suck at them.

[db]

Fuck you, it's The People's City. It's vitally important that The People have access to it so they can stand within a quarter mile of their elected representatives.

[db]

Intended as a reply to NoVA above.

[invisible furry hand]

for a happy few minutes I thought you had just started posting random rants, before going outside to shout at the sky

[db]

I may yet shout at the sky if it doesn't clear up for my second cross country training flight tomorrow.

[John]

http://www.mediaite.com/tv/msn.....primetime/

Special Ed Shultz being moved to weekend night time. He will be on right after Lockup California. If you can't make it as a idiotic Dem hack on MSNBC, where can you make it?

[Drax the Destroyer]

If you can't make it as a idiotic Dem hack on MSNBC, where can you make it?

Any. Government.

[AuH2O]

But remember ladies: The real problem is rape on America's campuses, not the plight of the women in Egypt!

I do have some faith in the student bodies across this nation to attempt to uphold rape-free societies on their campuses. And individual actions, no matter how small or seemingly futile, are invaluable. When one of my friends came forward publicly about two sexual assaults on our campus, the student community reacted visibly: social groups were changed; my friends and I had to kick people we once liked out of our parties. But it wasn't enough, and tellingly, the administration did nothing. A rapist still played on our basketball team. A rapist still walked around the quad. Every day rapists, known rapists, cross campus to go to class. Every day rapists walk freely in the spaces that should be safe for everyone. Every day, there are survivors of rape who suffer greater backlash than their rapists do.

But sometimes small actions do work, albeit in small measure: when someone in my graduating class penned an op-ed about the "incoherent concept" of acquaintance rape and blamed rape reports on "regret" for "bad drunk decisions," students barricaded the American University Eagle's office and circulated petitions (ahem, that was me, I was on TV once) until the administration responded.

And a bit more...

[AuH2O]

Moving forward, I made both compromises and demands to do my best to put structures in place before I left - since we weren't in a budget cycle I couldn't tackle the creation of a fully-funded women's center (the creation of which was a years-old promise from administrators scrapped, dutifully, the instant I graduated), so instead I put together a "non-compulsory" educational program on consent and sexual assault that incoming students worked through at orientation. I held events using my organization's money that expressed everything administrators could not: that women had the right to feel safe at parties and everywhere on campus, that rape apologism and justification was not acceptable, and that there's no middle ground when it comes to the fact that rape is unacceptable. There was no room for "grey rape" and no room for rape apology. Someone had to do that. Someone had to be willing to take the polarizing position. And, of no coincidence, it is typically a student with the freedom to do so - freedom from contractual obligations, pressure from superiors, and lobbying voices from, apparently, the depths of Hell's most evil chambers.

After one year of rabble-rousing, however, I graduated. And poof. I was gone, and so was my work and my voice.

[Virginian]

Who's apologizing for rape?

[John]

No one. She is just pissed that women do not have the power to send any an they choose to prison at any time by making an accusation of rape. They live in denial of reality. The key phrase is this

that women had the right to feel safe at parties and everywhere on campus,

The reality is that a five foot 100 lb college student is never going to feel or be as safe at parties or on any campus as a six foot 200 lb man. Women because of their physical size are always going to have to live life a bit differently than men do. This is the reality these people refuse to accept. And they are willing to destroy the constitution and legal due process to do it.

[CampingInYourPark]

"The reality is that a five foot 100 lb college student is never going to feel or be as safe at parties or on any campus as a six foot 200 lb man."

Unless you arm them with the ultimate equalizer, a bazooka

[John]

+1

[Smilin' Joe Fission]

Machine gun jubblies are in the final stages of development.

[Bones]

Unless they arm themselves, you mean, right?

[itsnotmeitsyou]

But, John, don't you know that if we make legislation that SAYS women are exactly the same as men, biology will be forced to intervene and eradicate those pesky things like physiological differences? Jeez, read Jezebel once in a while, you closed minded patriarchal bigot.

[MJGreen]

Not just that, but a woman shouldn't feel safe, she should be safe. Rapists will continue to exist, as will muggers, home invaders, etc., so women should never feel completely safe. I imagine a lot of women get raped because they feel safe at a party and so proceed to get drunk, be more carefree, possibly lead a guy on, etc.

Of course, if you take it as a given that a woman has no 'responsibility' in these situations, in that she should not be expected to take any steps to protect herself beforehand, then I guess "feeling safe" is all that matters.

[MJGreen]

Of less importance, just what is meant that there is "no room" for "rape apology"? More punishing people for speech?

[Rasilio]

Yes, and women like my ex wife of course do not exist.

See she confided in me at one point that when she was in college she was hooking up with this guy who was socially unacceptable in her circle of friends so she kept it on the down low, until she got pregnant. Then she told everyone that he raped her so she didn't have to admit to her friends that she was sleeping with him, she never filed charges of course but the guy became a pariah around campus because of it.

Now imagine that same story playing out today, the guy would have people picketing outside of his classes until the university found some reason to expel him just to make the headache go away.

That is the thing that these morons always gloss over, yes rape should never be excused but the fact of the matter is that some women do lie about it and sometimes they do consent in the moment and then decide that it was rape after the fact and you cannot go an treat every person an allegation is made against as if they are guilty

[John]

Wow. Your ex was quite a piece of work.

[Rasilio]

Tell me about it, after we split up she convinced all of our friends I was a Pedophile who mentally abused her, then later after I filed the divorce papers so I could get married to my current wife as we had just had twins together she and a friend started making anonymous calls to CPS reporting Child Abuse and Neglect.

Dumbest part of it is that she had forgotten that she had told me her Livejournal password, and that filing false reports of child abuse was a crime.

[John]

Like me, my wife is not perfect. But God at least I didn't marry a sociopath. Hope it worked out better with the second wife and the twins.

[Rasilio]

Oh yes, things aren't perfect of course, but those twins are now 10 and have a 4 year old younger sister to go along with their 13 year old half brother and we are still together.

My ex, married a brit and now lives in London last I heard.

[itsnotmeitsyou]

Ras, I think my brother in law dated your ex, lol.

He dated this girl that was psycho to begin with. She was on seroquel, that level of crazy.

When he was thinking of breaking up with her, she caught wind of it. She "ended up in the hospital having a miscarriage" that she claimed was caused by him beating her. The cops took him into custody and grilled him, screaming at him, threatening him with years and years of jail, telling him that women beaters and baby killers don't last a week in jail.

The thing is, he's sterile. Has been for over a decade. It didn't take long for the hospital to figure out that not only was she lying about the pregnancy, she had no signs of abuse either. No charges were filed against him, but they didn't apologize or anything. And short of a restraining order, there was jack shit he could do to her.

[itsnotmeitsyou]

I had a friend that was dating a girl throughout high school, they were sexually active since about 9th grade. They kept it from their parents of course. That is, until shortly after his 18th birthday when he broke up with her. She got all hysterical and claimed he raped her and that's why SHE broke up with him. Luckily, he got the rape charge dropped, but still got brought up on statutory rape charges. And not until after his name was raked through the mud and he became an outcast. Hell, even I lost friends merely for defending him.

Now, he's a "sexual predator" with all the restrictions that comes along with that title. I still know people that think he raped her becasue "no one would make up such a horrific thing".

[John]

Yeah because an immature emotional 17 year old kid would never say or do something nasty, destructive and stupid. Never.

[itsnotmeitsyou]

And women are NEVER vindictive. That never happens either.

[Bones]

But was it rape-rape? Whoopi would like to know.

[itsnotmeitsyou]

But was it rape-rape? legitimate rape?

Todd Akin would like to know.

[itsnotmeitsyou]

Or maybe it was garden variety rape?

Joe Biden would like to know.

[Warty]

Why was this girl in a university? Clearly not to learn anything.

[The Late P Brooks]

the "incoherent concept" of acquaintance rape

Umm, yeah.

[Virginian]

The hamster looms large. Few women manage to slay it.

[mnarayan]

Trivia question of the day: Who is the only English player left in Champions League play?

[invisible furry hand]

Goldenballs I s'pose, since he's at PSG

[mnarayan]

Correct (I assume based on the presence of "PSG"; I don't speak Australian). A strong showing from the country at #4 in the FIFA world rankings.

[Apatheist ?_??]

Same as Americans with Gooch at Malaga but he's not playing at all.

[Ted S.]

Why the hell did Bayern have to draw Italian opposition in the quarters?

Borussia got Malaga, for fuck's sake.

[The Late P Brooks]

rape apologism and justification was not acceptable, and that there's no middle ground when it comes to the fact that rape is unacceptable. There was no room for "grey rape" and no room for rape apology.

Guilt by decree, then.

[Slammer]

Rape is what we say it is herp derp

[some guy]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/na.....-changing/

On Alan Greenspan and the gold standard.

[robc]

He was pro gold-standard before joining the Fed. He is pro-gold standard after leaving.

Sell out.

Ive said he took the job that Galt turned down, and that looks more and more true now.

[some guy]

He claims that he ran the Fed as near to the gold standard as possible, quoting gold values at the beginning and end of his tenure. But that ignores the volatility that happened during those years and the other negative impacts of having a central bank.

[AuH2O]

Ron Swanson opposed bailouts on Parks last night?

How butthurt should I expect the AV Club to be over this?

[gaijin]

haha! I saw that. Using bailout money to create a pron video store! The best sequence was everyone standing up at council meeting to get money for their business/cause and the dude in the back repeatedly saying 'you can do that online'.

[The Late P Brooks]

After one year of rabble-rousing, however, I graduated. And poof. I was gone, and so was my work and my voice.

To the vast inconsolable sorrow of the rest of the "campus community" no doubt.

[John]

After I left college, none of the girls in the old sorority wanted me to come to the parties anymore.

[sarcasmic]

Gn'R fan suing AxHole for knocking his teeth out with a careless toss of the microphone.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvs.....phone.html

[John]

Isn't G&R just Axhole and a backup band now?

[sarcasmic]

Isn't G&R just Axhole and a shitty backup band now?

Yes.

[CampingInYourPark]

"WASHINGTON (AP) ? The White House is launching an audio series to give Americans the sense they're behind the scenes with Vice President Joe Biden."

http://washington.cbslocal.com.....ing-biden/

Wonder how this is funded.

[CampingInYourPark]

"Jim ? a minute ago ?
Will it be a steaming pile of feces with a voice over?"

[Jerry on the boat]

How the hell did this not pass sequestration?

[Brett L]

There must have been a credible threat on Obama's life.

[The Late P Brooks]

So this is what I was thinking about "acquaintance rape" or whatever the fuck the kids call it:

When I was in college, I fucked a couple of girls I would have gone to great length to keep my friends from finding out about. The same thing could be said of some of the girls I knew. It happens.

But apparently, these womyn in college today can't own up to the fact that sometimes you just want to fuck somebody, however normal and healthy that may be (and sometimes even your second or third choice will do). Instead of saying, "I fucked that guy in my Sociology class last night, BECAUSE I FELT LIKE IT." They apparently feel compelled to say, "That guy from my Sociology class FORCED ME TO LET HIM RAM HIS ICKY PENIS IN ME. LIKE, UNTIL IT WAS LIGHT OUT, DUDE! And then I walked home with my panty hose hanging halfway out of my purse, boo hoo hoo."

How is this in any way "empowering"?

[John]

It is not. But feminism is almost exclusively about insulating women from the consequences of their decisions in order to ensure that middle and upper class white women maintain a position of privilege.

They would never let men off the hook like that. If a man got brutally drunk and ended up half consciously making out with a woman not his wife and someone took a camera phone video of it and showed it to his wife, no one would ever say the woman victimized him or ever cut the man a single bit of slack for being drunk. Reverse the sexes and it is sexual assault.

[itsnotmeitsyou]

Because it gives them power over men.

I, like you, fucked some girls that I would never have thought of fucking while sober. Likewise, I've had at least one girl leave in a hurry in the morning because she fucked me and wasn't proud of it.

The horrific nature of rape means that accusations are taken very seriously and some people refuse to believe that anyone would make up such a horrific story.

It gives them power by attracting attention to them and victimizing them. People go out of their way to help victims. People see victims as noble for having gone through a terrible thing. It feeds their attention whoring all while excusing their choice.

[Rasilio]

Lets not forget how wonderfully liberating being a victim is, you get a built in excuse for everything wrong in your life ever

[Warty]

When I was a little kid, I used to love to pretend to be sick so I could stay home and my mom would bring me food. Are you telling me that I could just pretend to be raped, and I could have that again??

[Warty]

The other thing is, I wonder how much of their rape hysteria is due to sublimated rape fantasies. How many of them loved 50 Shades of Gray, do you think? They're starting to remind me of the proverbial hillbilly preacher who gets caught manning a gloryhole.

[Virginian]

A huge amount. Dirtiest sex I've had has been with hardcore feminists.

[John]

One of the first wave feminists, Steinem I think, was involved in a long running light d/s geisha role play kind of relationship with a man for years in secret.

It is funny how the same people who are so quick to see overcompensation for personal secrets in men who object to homosexuality refuse to even entertain the possibility that the phenomenon could exist in other contexts.

[jesse.in.mb]

I don't know that anyone denies that personal shame can drive an opposite public persona, but for some people their public persona means that they need to be composed and in charge all the time; submitting to someone else is deeply transgressive and therefore titillating. And some people just need a break from being in charge all the time.

[John]

And the desire to do so can cause deep internal guilt and conflicts in someone who is convinced they should be in charge or equal at all times.

[jesse.in.mb]

Totally not disagreeing with you. I'm just saying that's not always the case. I know a few women who are steely go-getters who are quite proud of the fact that they like dom guys. I would've said that what you're saying is universally true before I met them.

[itsnotmeitsyou]

Someone who owns up to their sexual preferences aren't the problem, Jess. It's people who bury it and deny it that are the problem here. See LPB's comment above.

Instead of saying, "I fucked that guy in my Sociology class last night, BECAUSE I FELT LIKE IT." They apparently feel compelled to say, "That guy from my Sociology class FORCED ME TO LET HIM RAM HIS ICKY PENIS IN ME.

I know a woman that is a force to be reckoned with in business and work, but LOVES being dominated in the sack. She's aware of it, open about it, etc. That's empowerment.

The issue comes in with the type that believes they can't EVER be submissive in the slightest because that would make a man more powerful. They project this insecurity onto the rest of the world and need to create victims out of consenting adults in order to maintain their narrative.

[John]

Exactly itsnotme.

[jesse.in.mb]

You're preaching to the choir itsnotme, one of my closest college friends got crushed by his girlfriend's complete lack of self-awareness and emotional health when it came to her feminism and her sexual desires.

[itsnotmeitsyou]

one of my closest college friends got crushed by his girlfriend

Sounds fat... (I kid, I kid)

[Mike M.]

Jesus Christ, enough with the constant flacking of 24/7 and the click farming, guys. It's starting to get annoying now.

[Agile Cyborg]

Treasury Secretary Jack Lew's not worried about trouble finding work, Healthcare premiums, and Maryland lawmakers.

A United Nations researcher says U.S. drones in Pakistan are expected to to abolish the death penalty.

Market bubbles. Are expected. Regularly kill innocent people.

Press regulation talks are using children to deliver bomb packages.

Separatists in Pakistan scare her children.

A Florida mother called 911 to get police to have collapsed in the United Kingdom.

Keith Olbermann is having to increase by up to 100 percent due to Obamacare.